The cost of employment is about to get higher

For as long as I can remember, businesses have talked about the cost of hiring, especially the extra cost when it all goes wrong.

Wages, recruitment costs, training, time, and the impact on the rest of the team and the business overall. 

But with the biggest changes for years to employment law coming into force in October this year and January 2027, there is a more pressing reason for employers to think carefully about who they hire.

It’s no longer about how quickly we can fill this vacancy…but how confident we are that we're hiring the right person. 

A huge employment law shift is here…

From the 1st of October 2026, the time limit for bringing most employment tribunal claims increases from three months to six months.

Then, from the 1st of January 2027, the qualifying period for ordinary unfair dismissal protection will reduce from two years to six months.

This represents a significant change in the employment landscape, but it doesn't mean businesses should become reluctant to hire.

It just means they need to become better at it, because a bad hire creates additional risks as well as costs.

We've all seen how quickly the consequences of a poor hire can spread

• Good on paper but struggle to fit into the team.
• Great technical skills but they lack the attitude required for the role.
• Fab interview, but what happened to them once they're actually in the job? 

And sometimes, despite everyone's best efforts, someone simply isn't the right fit.

The problem is that identifying the wrong person after you've hired them can be considerably more expensive than identifying them before they join.

That's why recruitment shouldn't be treated as simply sticking an advert on Indeed and choosing the person who looks best on paper.

The CV is only part of the story

A CV can tell you where someone has worked, what qualifications they have and it can tell you what experience they claim to have, but it doesn't necessarily tell you…

• Will they fit into our team?
• Can they adapt to our management style?
• And do they actually want this job?
• How will they deal with things when they don't go to plan?
• Do they have the personality and attitude we're looking for?

These are the questions that can make the difference between a successful hire and an expensive mistake.

It’s not a race

When a position has been vacant for several weeks, it's tempting to take the first person who appears to tick enough boxes.

• The business needs someone.
• The workload is increasing.
• The team is under pressure.
• And suddenly, “good enough” starts looking like “good.”

That's where recruitment decisions can go wrong.

The objective shouldn't be to get someone through the door as quickly as possible.

It should be to find someone who has a genuine chance of succeeding once they're through it.

Sometimes that means taking longer

Sometimes it means interviewing fewer candidates but better-quality candidates and having the confidence to say none of these people are right; let's keep looking.

We recruiters are often judged on how quickly we can produce CVs, but it's a bad metric; the real value is in the work that happens before the CV reaches the client.

• Understanding the business.
• Understanding the role.
• Understanding the team.
• Knowing what type of person is likely to succeed.
• Finding candidates who aren't simply capable of doing the job, but who actually want to do it.
• And then helping the employer make a properly informed decision.

It’s not a numbers game

The cost of a bad hire is about to get higher; getting the appointment right matters more than ever.

Because the cheapest recruitment process isn't necessarily the one with the lowest recruitment fee.

It's the one that gives you the best chance of making the right hire.

At One to One, we've always believed that recruitment is about people, not just a CV.

We're a locally focused recruitment business with more than two decades of experience helping businesses across Essex find the people they need to grow their business.

OnetoOne Personnel…locally focused and personally invested, it’s a OnetoOne thing!